Artificial limb.



C. L. DAVIS & A. G. WATTS.'

ARTIFICIAL LIMB.

APPLICATION FILED DEc.3,1914.

1, 174,127, Y Patented Mar. 7, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

' y l atto/:Man:

THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH cn..v WASHINGTON D. C.

C.. L. DAVIS & A. G. WATTS.

ARTIFICIAL IIIvI.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.3I 1914.

' Patented Mar. 7, 1916.

11.- www THB COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co., WASHING-rofl. D4 c.

' To all whom t may concern:

iinrrnn srarns rarnnr Acarros.

i CHARLES L. DAVIS AND ARTHUR Gr. WATTS, OF ROBINSO, ILLINOIS.

ARTIFICIAL LIlVIIB.

' Be it known that we, CHARLES L. Davis and ARTHUR G. IVA'r'rs, citizens of the Unitedv States, residing at Robinson, in the county of Crawford and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Artificial Limbs; andk we do c declare the following to kbe a full, clear, and

exact description of the invention, suoli as will enable others skilled inthe art to'which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to improvements in artificial limbs and has for its main object to improve upon the construction of devices of this character to such an extent as to provide simple. 'strong and light weight limbs y which will possess a number of advantageous features. j Y Y To the above end, a further'object is to provide novel means for attaching'the artificial limb to the stump, this means ineluding acushioning device composed of a plurality of flat springs to. which the stump socket is secured.

Yet another objectis to provide a simple yet efiicient form of bearingY for hingedly connecting the various members of the limb and to providek means whereby one of these hinged connections may operate only in one direction. l

With the above and minor objects in view,

the invention resides in certain novel f eatures of construction and combination here# a socket member to be described; Fig. 8 is a detail-vertical section taken on the line 8-8ofFig.3. i rj In the accompanying `drawings an artificial limb 1 is shown, said limb Vbeing provided with a foot 2 on its lower end, which foot is'hingedly connectedjto the lower end of said limb by an ankle joint 3 to be described. The limb 1 is formed of an 4upper hollow shaft 4, a lower shaft 5, hingedly connected by a knee joint 6 between the upvper and lower shafts and attaching'means 7.-1' The shaft 5 is provided, 'on its upper 'knee oint.

end, with va socket member 8 whoseupper face is provided with a semi-globular recess f 9 and with a pair of grooves 10 which project laterally outward from said recess and which receive the oppositeends of a hori- Specication of Letters Patent. Patented Bilal'. 7, 1916.

Application led December 3, 1914. Serial No. 875,282. y

zontal shaft 11 whichpasses through and projects beyond the opposite sides of a ball 12, which is carried by the lower end of the shaft 4C, said ends of the shaft thereby constituting bearing pins orjournals. vIt will be seen, by' reference to the drawings, that the ball 12 rests within the recessr 9- and upon an annular-horizontal series of anti-'1 friction ball bearings 13. Secured by screws 14 or by other suitable fasteners to the member 8 is a cap 15, the latter having a'semiglobular recess in its under side which coacts with the recess 9 vto provide'a complete bearing for the ball 12, said lower side ofthe cap 15 being also provided'with a pair of laterallyextending grooves 16 which register with the grooves 10 to provide complete bearings for the ends of the shaft 11.

At suitable points,(see Figs. 3 and 8)recesses 17 are provided in theY cap 15, saidy recesses intersecting the grooves 16 and receiving ball carriers 18 which revolubly support a plurality ofanti-friction balls 19,'the I latter bearing against the upperside of the shaft 11 as shown. As the various parts of Y the device become worn it becomes expedient to provide means for adjusting the carriers 18 downwardly, a thumb screw 20l being here shownk as provided for this purpose.`

A knee joint 6 constructed as above de scribed, possesses a number of advantageous features and allows free movement -of the understood, that the Yshaft, 11 prevents the knee joint from operating in one direction,

but allows perfect operation thereof in a plane at right langles thereto. v, j

In connection with the parts'aboveV de- In order to allow such movefigures ofthe drawings.v It will Vbe readily scribed, it becomes highly essentialtoprovide means for preventing the jointl6 from bending to allow the shaft 5 to move forwardly.V For this purpose, the uppershaft t is provided with. a collar 23 .from which .arms 2% project forwardly and `rearwardly y j provided with forwardlyand rearwardly to opposite sides of the hinge, whilea siinilar collar 25 is mounted on the shaft 5 and extendingarms 26. Connecting the rearmost arms 24 and 26 is a strap 27/ which prevents the` movement above mentioned` while the forwardly projecting arms are' connected one to the otherby suitableI elastic element 28, thereby allowing the properfbendfing movement; of` theknee joint. 'llh'e` anlrl'e; jgoint which. connects the foot i2 with; the' lower end: off! the'y shaft 5,- isconi? structed-f inV the same manner as theI joint 6` above describedl, with. the. exception: that thel socket 9.1 ,isformediL directly" in' the' foot instead? effin'A specially' constructed socket member,'-. and` thel cap' 115( is.- yieldably con'- nested' tolsaidl socket member, to: allow the lieg' toz tiltl sidexvise; a trifle in. respect` to? the foot. ift: may lileifv'isev be explainedgthat the front and rear' edges of the cap L55 are notched asseenr at 21 in.y order to: allow the anis-le" or: lrin'gre' j oint 3 to; move the neces.;

sary directions,... it bei-ng: understood that said cap? is provided for retaining the ball.

12! theshaft L11 in position' withinth-e 9 and` grooves" 150 similar. to theI grooves 1 0 withl the exception' that theyy increase` in depth at their outer ends tot allow the` shaft 121' to :move vertically as theY legi tilts side'- wise as abo-ve suggested. For yieldably connecting the capV 15" to the foot,l screws 1100 arefpassed through: slots` therein and threadedl intoisaid? foot, springs` 101 being interposes between the heads of. the screws and the; capi.`

Although the footproper. mighty Abe con# struetedain anyv suitaiblemanner, it is preferablyaforrned of a rear orbodj7 member and a toei member SS'wvhiclr is spaced a slight distance therefrom and:y connected therewith by flat leaf spring 34e, the latter being securenl` to the' undersidesfof the two meurbers and being covered by a sponge rubber pad 85 as shown. By this construction,V the .toe member?V 33.' yield,upwardlyV to the necessary amouirte'but is preferably limi/ted ,1in-f. its downward movement by' bolts 36'.

The attaching means ,l comprises a nut 4l@ which is threaded' upon the upper end -orli the'V shaft 4t, a' plurality of upwardly `diw'ergin'g"flat leaf springs 4:1. whose lower ends are. secured to` said: nut, their. upper ses brag les @a e ser 43 which encircles said upper ends of the springs and which passes through the loops thereomand an? adjustable sockety le which is secured to the springs 41.

EisA seen: in the various iigures of the drawings', the shaftsll? and 11 are? reduced at their ends as shown at 504 andr .re-

respectively. rFhe reduced ends of theV shaft n 111 are passed" through the lower' ends of a pair of upright side strips 511, and.` through the ujaperr ends of:y lower side strips. 52, the

extreme lower ends offl these last named strips being pivoted at 53 upon the reduced ends 50 of the shaft 11. In. making all of theseY pivotal connections, appropriate formsof ball4 bearings 54 are providedV and nuts 55 are also employed for retaining the sections of the ballI bearings; in; place. and for: preventingr removal of the-strips 51 and 52. The upper strips 51 are held, in' spaced relation. b-y apair of arms -1whichproject laterally from' a collar 61- mounted. on the shaft 4*,whi-le the strips152rnay be so braced if desired. f n

Secured either to the inner or tof the outer sides of the strips 51 and surrounding the* upper shaft and the attaching. member 7,- is ay covering 62 which is here shown as being formed? of woven w.ire,.while a' similar covering 63 surrounds the lower shaft, and is secured to either the inner or the outer sides of the strips 52, said last named covering' bei-ng` extended downwardly and around the cap- 15 as shown.VV By reference tof the drawings it-wll be seen that both the thigh and: calf coverings 62 and (53 are shaped to conform to the lines of the por'- tionsof they limb which they are replacing, thereby providing an extremely life-like ap pearan'ce when the'k completedf article is properly covered by the clothes of the' vimpaired by such simplicity.

We cla-im. i

An. artilicialli-inb comprising a'- painof centraliser-sensed; hrrgedly connectbearings on opposite sides of the socket and yeo ron the ball bearings therein.

Y 3.V An artificial limb comprising a pair of members, a socket carried by one member, ball bearings in said socket, a ball on the other member and seated within a socket on the ball bearings therein, and stop means for preventing relative movement of the two members in one direction.

4. An artificial limb comprising a pair of members, a socket on onemember, a ball on the other member and locatedin the socket,

journals projecting laterally from opposite sides of the ball and rotatably mounted in said bearings.

5. An artificial limb comprising a pair of members, a socket on one member, a ballon the other member, and locatedin the socket, bearings on'opposite sides of the socket, said bearings having recesses opening into their bores, ball carriers slidable in said recesses, anti-friction balls carried by said carriers, means for moving the latter inwardly and outwardly, and transverse journals project-l ing laterally in opposite directions from said ball vinto said bearings and contacting with said anti-friction balls.

6. An artificial limb comprising a pair of members, a socket on one member, ball bearings inone side of said socket, a ball on the other member and mounted in the socket on the ball bearings therein, bearings on opposite sidesof said socket,'journals projecting laterally in opposite directions from said ball and extending into said bearings, and anti-friction balls in the latter and'loeated adjacent the side of the socket opposite that having the ball bearings. i

7. An artificial limb comprising a pair of members, a socket` memberV on one of the same, said socket member having a semi-` globular recess in one side and grooves eX- tending laterally in opposite directionsfrom saidrecess, a ball on the other member and located in said recess, a pair of lj ournals projeoting laterally from said ball into the grooves, anda cap secured to the socket member and having a semi-globular recess Vco-acting with that therein to provide a bearing for the ball, said cap also'having Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve'cents eachyby addressing the Commissioner ofv Patents, Y

KVgrooves co-acting with those in the socket` member to formr bearings for the journals, and a slot through which the member having the ball projects. i Y

8. In an artificial limb the Acombination with a pair of hingedly connected members,

of a pair of arms projecting laterally from one member to oppositersides of the hinge,

similar arms on the other member, a ystrap Y connecting the arms projecting to one side of the hinge, and an elasticelement 'connecting the arms projecting to the opposite side thereof.

9. The combination with an artificial limb, of a plurality of upwardly diverging springs secured to the limb, and a stump socket supported by said springs.

10. The combination with an artificial limb, of a plurality of upwardly diverging leaf springs secured to theV limb, and a strap passing around said springs.

11. The combination with a foot having a half bearing in its top,-a cap above said foot and having the second half of the bearing,

and a leg rising from the foot and having a hinge memberlocated in the bearing thus formed, of a yielding connection between the cap and foot.

12. The combination with a foo-t having a half bearing in its upper side, a cap above said foot and having the second half of said bearing, and a leg rising from the foot and having a bearing shaft mounted inthe bearing thus formed, of a yielding connection between the cap and the foot. i

`13. The combination with a foot having a semi-globular recess in its upper side, and a pair of grooves extending outwardly from said recess Y in opposite directions, said grooves increasing in depth toward their outer ends, a cap above the foot and likewise having a semi-globular recess, whereby to Y Vprovide a globular socket, a ball in said socket, a leg member rising from said ball, a pair of journals projecting laterally from the ball intov said grooves, and yielding means connecting the cap to the Vfoot.

14C. An artificial limb comprising a pair of hingedly connected members, a pair of Y rigid 'arms extending from one member to opposite sides of the hinge, and a pair of coiled springs Yconnected at one end to the arms and at their other end to the other member on opposite sides of the hinge.V

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of two subscribingV Washington, D. C. 

